Joshua Cheptegei wins the 10,000m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Dan Vernon)
As the year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2024 in each area of the sport.
The series began yesterday with a review of the sprints and continues with a review of the middle and long distances – 800m, 1500m, 5000 and 10,000m. It will be followed over the coming days by reviews of all the other event groups.
Men’s 800m
Season top list
| 1:41.11 | Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) | Lausanne | 22 August |
| 1:41.20 | Marco Arop (CAN) | Paris | 10 August |
| 1:41.46 | Djamel Sedjati (ALG) | Monaco | 12 July |
| 1:41.61 | Gabriel Tual (FRA) | Paris | 7 July |
| 1:41.67 | Bryce Hoppel (USA) | Paris | 10 August |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) | 1489 |
| 2 | Marco Arop (CAN) | 1485 |
| 3 | Djamel Sedjati (ALG) | 1464 |
| 4 | Gabriel Tual (FRA) | 1417 |
| 5 | Bryce Hoppel (USA) | 1416 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) | 1:41.19 PB |
| 🥈 | Marco Arop (CAN) | 1:41.20 AR |
| 🥉 | Djamel Sedjati (ALG) | 1:41.50 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) 1:41.19
Wanda Diamond League: Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN) 1:42.70
World Indoor Championships: Bryce Hoppel (USA) 1:44.92
European Championships: Gabriel Tual (FRA) 1:44.87
African Championships: Alex Kipngetich (KEN) 1:45.02
Oceanian Championships: Peyton Craig (AUS) 1:46.33
World U20 Championships: General Ayansa (ETH) 1:46.86
Season snapshot
- David Rudisha’s legendary world record of 1:40.91 seemed to be living on borrowed time throughout this year. Heading into the Olympics, Djamel Sedjati was the fastest man with a world with his 1:41:46 set at the Paris Diamond League, where three men finished inside 1:42 and seven went sub-1:43 – the deepest race in history.
Gabriel Tual, Djamel Sedjati and Emmanuel Wanyonyi clash in the 800m (© Ed Hall / Diamond League AG)
- Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who had won the Kenyan Trials with 1:41.70 and then placed second at the Paris Diamond League in 1:41.58, went on to win the Olympic gold in 1:41.19, his third PB of the year. He became the youngest man to win an Olympic 800m title. World champion Marco Arop was just 0.01 behind, setting a North American record to take silver. Djamel earned bronze, while Bryce Hoppel was fourth in a US record of 1:41.67.
- Two weeks after taking Olympic gold, Wanyonyi lowered his PB to a world-leading 1:41.11 in Lausanne to move to joint second on the world all-time list. He concluded his season by winning at the Diamond League Final in Brussels.
- The three Olympic medallists all enjoyed an outstanding season, but so too did Hoppel, who upgraded the bronze medal he earned in Belgrade two years ago to win the world indoor title ahead of Elliot Crestan in a world-leading 1:44.92. Gabriel Tual also excelled this year, setting a French record of 1:41.61 at the Paris Diamond League and winning the European title in Rome.
- The world record may have remained intact, but the world all-time list has been rewritten. Before this year, there had been just 15 sub-1:42 performances in history. That tally now stands at 27, with 12 sub-1:42 runs being achieved this year. Previously, just two men – Rudisha (2010 and 2012) and Wilson Kipketer (1997) – had broken 1:42 three times in one season. But Wanyonyi, Arop and Sedjati all achieved that feat in 2024; in fact, Wanyonyi did so a record four times.
Women’s 800m
Season top list
| 1:54.61 | Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) | London | 20 July |
| 1:55.61 | Jemma Reekie (GBR) | London | 20 July |
| 1:56.28 | Georgia Bell (GBR) | London | 20 July |
| 1:56.56 | Mary Moraa (KEN) | Brussels | 13 September |
| 1:56.83 | Natoya Goule-Toppin (JAM) | London | 20 July |
| 1:56.83 | Addison Wiley (USA) | Szczecin | 28 August |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) | 1442 |
| 2 | Mary Moraa (KEN) | 1437 |
| 3 | Tsige Duguma (ETH) | 1383 |
| 4 | Prudence Sekgodiso (RSA) | 1366 |
| 5 | Jemma Reekie (GBR) | 1361 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) | 1:56.72 |
| 🥈 | Tsige Duguma (ETH) | 1:57.15 PB |
| 🥉 | Mary Moraa (KEN) | 1:57.42 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:56.72
Wanda Diamond League: Mary Moraa (KEN) 1:56.56
World Indoor Championships: Tsige Duguma (ETH) 2:01.90
European Championships: Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) 1:58.65
African Championships: Sarah Moraa (KEN) 2:00.72
Oceanian Championships: Alison Andrews-Paul (NZL) 2:03.94
World U20 Championships: Sarah Moraa (KEN) 2:00.36
Season snapshot
- Keely Hodgkinson enjoyed an unbeaten season at 800m, culminating with the Olympic title in Paris. In the French capital, the 22-year-old Briton pulled away from world indoor champion Tsige Duguma and world champion Mary Moraa to win in 1:56.72. Runner-up Duguma set a PB of 1:57.15 to earn Ethiopia’s first Olympic medal in the women’s 800m.
Keely Hodgkinson wins the 800m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
- Duguma, who was relatively unknown before this year, made waves at the start of the season by taking the world indoor title in 2:01.90 after setting a PB of 1:58.35 in the semifinals. Just two weeks later, she won the African Games title.
- USA’s Athing Mu was unable to defend her Olympic title after failing to make the US team in the midst of an injury-disrupted season. But had that not been the case, she would have been hard-pressed to beat Hodgkinson, who ran a world-leading 1:54:61 to win at the Diamond League meeting in London, elevating her to sixth on the world all-time list – three places ahead of Mu.
- Hodgkinson, who also won the European title in Rome, is followed at the top of this year’s world list by compatriots Jemma Reekie (1:55.61) and Georgia Bell (1:56.28), both of whom set PBs in London.
- Moraa was the early-season standout, winning in Nairobi (1:57.96) and Doha (1:57.91). South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso also excelled, winning in Marrakesh (1:57.26) and Olso. But once Hodgkinson opened her season in Eugene, clocking a world-leading 1:55.78, the 800m was ruled by the Briton. Hodgkinson ended her season after the Olympics, leaving Moraa to successfully defend her Diamond League title in Brussels.
- A record number of 24 women bettered 1:58 this year and 78 went sub-2:00. For context, last year 11 women broke 1:58 and 59 bettered 2:00.
Men’s 1500m
Season top list
| 3:26.73 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | Monaco | 12 July |
| 3:27.65 | Cole Hocker (USA) | Paris | 6 August |
| 3:27.79 | Josh Kerr (GBR) | Paris | 6 August |
| 3:27.80 | Yared Nuguse (USA) | Paris | 6 August |
| 3:28.71 | Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN) | Monaco | 12 July |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | 1487 |
| 2 | Yared Nuguse (USA) | 1452 |
| 3 | Cole Hocker (USA) | 1449 |
| 4 | Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN) | 1401 |
| 5 | Hobbs Kessler (USA) | 1399 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Cole Hocker (USA) | 3:27.65 OR, AR |
| 🥈 | Josh Kerr (GBR) | 3:27.79 NR |
| 🥉 | Yared Nuguse (USA) | 3:27.80 PB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Cole Hocker (USA) 3:27.65
Wanda Diamond League: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 3:30.37
World Indoor Championships: Geordie Beamish (NZL) 3:36.54
European Championships: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 3:31.95
African Championships: Brian Komen (KEN) 3:33.95
Oceanian Championships: Russell Green (NZL) 3:58.02
World U20 Championships: Abdisa Fayisa (ETH) 3:40.51
Season snapshot
- The Olympics had been billed as a clash between defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Josh Kerr, but Cole Hocker produced one of the biggest shocks of the Games to take the title in an Olympic and North American record of 3:27.65. Kerr took silver in a British record (3:27.79), but perhaps the biggest surprise of all was that Ingebrigtsen missed out on a medal all together as Yared Nuguse claimed bronze.
Cole Hocker wins the Olympic 1500m title (© Getty Images)
- Prior to the Olympics, Ingebrigtsen had won most of his races on the circuit – including a world-leading 3:26.73 in Monaco, breaking his own European record – but Kerr had beaten the Norwegian in the Bowerman Mile in Eugene, clocking a British record of 3:45.34.
- Ingebrigtsen rebounded from his 1500m disappointment in Paris to win gold over 5000m. After the Games, he won in Lausanne in 3:27.83, was beaten by Nuguse in Zurich, but ended his season with victory at the Diamond League Final in Brussels. Despite missing the podium in Paris, Ingebrigtsen – who won the European title in Rome – ended the season at the top of the world rankings.
- Back in March, New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish timed his kick to perfection at the World Indoor Championships, moving from ninth to first in the closing stages to win gold ahead of Hocker.
- A record four men bettered 3:28 this season, though the depth beyond that didn’t quite beat 2023.
Women’s 1500m
Season top list
| 3:49.04 | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | Paris | 7 July |
| 3:50.30 | Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) | Xiamen | 20 April |
| 3:50.83 | Jessica Hull (AUS) | Paris | 7 July |
| 3:52.61 | Georgia Bell (GBR) | Paris | 10 August |
| 3:52.75 | Diribe Welteji (ETH) | Paris | 10 August |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | 1502 |
| 2 | Jessica Hull (AUS) | 1474 |
| 3 | Diribe Welteji (ETH) | 1451 |
| 4 | Freweyni Hailu (ETH) | 1409 |
| 5 | Laura Muir (GBR) | 1403 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | 3:51.29 OR |
| 🥈 | Jessica Hull (AUS) | 3:52.56 |
| 🥉 | Georgia Bell (GBR) | 3:52.61 NR |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Faith Kipyegon (KEN) 3:51.29
Wanda Diamond League: Faith Kipyegon (KEN) 3:54.75
World Indoor Championships: Freweyni Hailu (ETH) 4:01.46
European Championships: Ciara Mageean (IRL) 4:04.66
African Championships: Saron Berhe (ETH) 4:06.05
Oceanian Championships: Laura Nagel (NZL) 4:22.10
World U20 Championships: Saron Berhe (ETH) 4:16.64
Season snapshot
- There were a record 118 sub-4:00 performances by 43 women this year, a significant increase on last season (71 performances by 25 women), which was a record at the time. Even so, Faith Kipyegon enjoyed another dominant season in which she won her third successive Olympic title at the distance.
- Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, the world 5000m record-holder, got the season rolling with a win in Xiamen in April, clocking a PB of 3:50.30, the third-fastest performance in history at that point. Her compatriots Freweyni Hailu and Diribe Welteji then won in Doha and Eugene respectively, while Britain’s Laura Muir won in Stockholm.
- Kipyegon, who had a relatively late start to her season due to an injury, opened her campaign with victory at the Kenyan trials in 3:59.98, a Kenyan all-comers’ record. Three weeks later at the Paris Diamond League meeting, she reduced her own world record to 3:49.04. Australia’s Jessica Hull finished second in an Oceanian record of 3:50.83, then went on to set a world 2000m record of 5:19.70 five days later in Monaco.
Faith Kipyegon wins the 1500m in Paris (© Christel Saneh)
- At the Olympic Games, having already secured silver over 5000m, Kipyegon dominated the 1500m as she has done at so many recent global championships. She won by more than a second in an Olympic record of 3:51.29 from Hull (3:52.56) and Britain’s Georgia Bell, who set a British record of 3:52.61. Kipyegon became the first woman to win three Olympic golds in a track discipline.
- Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu won the world indoor title in 4:01.46, having set a world indoor leading 3:55.28 in Torun one month prior. She missed out on Olympic selection, though. Kipyegon, meanwhile, rounded out her season with wins in Rome, Brussels and New York to end the year at the top of the world rankings for the fourth year in a row.
Men’s 5000m
Season top list
| 12:36.73 | Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH) | Oslo | 30 May |
| 12:38.95 | Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) | Oslo | 30 May |
| 12:40.96 | Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) | Oslo | 30 May |
| 12:43.66 | Berihu Aregawi (ETH) | Brussels | 13 September |
| 12:45.63 | Telahun Haile Bekele (ETH) | Brussels | 13 September |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH) | 1450 |
| 2 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | 1427 |
| 3 | Berihu Aregawi (ETH) | 1422 |
| 4 | Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) | 1413 |
| 5 | Selemon Barega (ETH) | 1393 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) | 13:13.66 SB |
| 🥈 | Ronald Kwemoi (KEN) | 13:15.04 |
| 🥉 | Grant Fisher (USA) | 13:15.13 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 13:13.66
Wanda Diamond League: Berihu Aregawi (ETH) 12:43.66
World Indoor Championships (3000m): Josh Kerr (GBR) 7:42.98
European Championships: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 13:20.11
African Championships: Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim (DJI) 13:38.38
Oceanian Championships: David McNeill (AUS) 14:02.23
World U20 Championships: Andrew Alamisi (KEN) 13:41.14
Season snapshot
- Just as he had done at last year’s World Championships, Jakob Ingebrigtsen used the 5000m at the Paris Olympics to gain redemption after disappointment in the 1500m. The Norwegian ran a controlled race and took command in the closing stages to win by more than a second in 13:13.66 from Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi and USA’s Grant Fisher.
- No Ethiopian athletes made the podium in Paris, but they featured prominently on the circuit before and after the Games. Lamecha Girma and Selemon Barega produced meeting records of 12:58.96 and 12:55.68 in Xiamen and Suzhou respectively. But the standout performance came from their compatriot Hagos Gebrhiwet who won in Oslo in an Ethiopian record of 12:36.73, the second-fastest time in history.
Hagos Gebrhiwet after winning the 5000m in Oslo (© Getty Images)
- Gebrhiwet went on to win in Rome, then Berihu Aregawi won the Diamond League Final in Brussels in 12:43.66.
- There were a record 47 sub-13-minute performances achieved this year by 29 athletes, an improvement on the 36 such clockings by 18 athletes last season.
- After the Olympics, Ingebrigtsen went on to smash the long-standing world 3000m record in Silesia with 7:17.55, taking more than three seconds off Daniel Komen’s mark of 7:20.67 set in 1996.
Women’s 5000m
Season top list
| 14:09.52 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | Zurich | 5 September |
| 14:18.76 | Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 14:18.92 | Ejgayehu Taye (ETH) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 14:20.61 | Freweyni Hailu (ETH) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 14:21.89 | Medina Eisa (ETH) | Brussels | 14 September |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | 1491 |
| 2 | Medina Eisa (ETH) | 1401 |
| 3 | Ejgayehu Taye (ETH) | 1396 |
| 4 | Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) | 1378 |
| 5 | Nadia Battocletti (ITA) | 1371 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | 14:28.56 |
| 🥈 | Faith Kipyegon (KEN) | 14:29.60 SB |
| 🥉 | Sifan Hassan (NED) | 14:30.61 SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Beatrice Chebet (KEN) 14:28.56
Wanda Diamond League: Beatrice Chebet (KEN) 14:09.82
World Indoor Championships (3000m): Elle St Pierre (USA) 8:20.87
European Championships: Nadia Battocletti (ITA) 14:35.29
African Championships: Fantaye Belayneh (ETH) 15:30.10
Oceanian Championships: Jenny Blundell (AUS) 15:26.29
World U20 Championships: Medina Eisa (ETH) 14:39.71
Season snapshot
- This discipline at the Paris Games brought together world champion Faith Kipyegon, world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet, world record-holder Gudaf Tsegay, defending champion Sifan Hassan and European champion Nadia Battocletti. The mouth-watering clash resulted in victory for Chebet, who went on to become a double Olympic champion in Paris after earning gold over 10,000m.
- Chebet won all three of her 5000m races on the Diamond League circuit, clocking 14:26.98 in Doha in May, then 14:09.52 towards the end of the season in Zurich, followed by a 14:09.82 triumph at the Diamond League Final in Brussels. They all contributed towards her topping the world rankings in this discipline.
Beatrice Chebet wins the 5000m at the Paris Olympics (© Getty Images)
- Aside from the ones won by Chebet, most other races on the Diamond League circuit were won by Ethiopians. Mekedes Alemeshete won in Suzhou in 14:36.70, then Medina Eisa triumphed in Marrakesh. Tsigie Gebreselama won the Prefontaine Classic in a PB of 14:18.78, while Diribe Welteji won over 3000m towards the end of the season in Lausanne in a meeting record of 8:21.50.
- Ethiopian women occupy seven of the top 10 places on this year’s world list, but it’s topped by Chebet’s winning run in Zurich.
Men’s 10,000m
Season top list
| 26:31.01 | Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) | Nerja | 14 June |
| 26:31.13 | Berihu Aregawi (ETH) | Nerja | 14 June |
| 26:34.93 | Selemon Barega (ETH) | Nerja | 14 June |
| 26:37.93 | Biniam Mehary (ETH) | Nerja | 14 June |
| 26:42.65 | Gemechu Dida (ETH) | Nerja | 14 June |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) | 1394 |
| 2 | Berihu Aregawi (ETH) | 1391 |
| 3 | Grant Fisher (USA) | 1388 |
| 4 | Mohammed Ahmed (CAN) | 1367 |
| 5 | Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) | 1357 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) | 26:43.14 OR |
| 🥈 | Berihu Aregawi (ETH) | 26:43.44 |
| 🥉 | Grant Fisher (USA) | 26:43.46 SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 26:43.14
European Championships: Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (SUI) 28:00.32
African Championships: Nibret Melak (ETH) 28:52.27
Oceanian Championships: Haftu Strintzos (AUS) 29:17.97
Season snapshot
- Three-time world champion and world record-holder Joshua Cheptegei finally earned the Olympic 10,000m title this year – the biggest omission from his medal cabinet heading into 2024. Prior to that, the Ugandan hadn’t won any of his races this year, finishing sixth at the World Cross, second over 10km in Laredo, third over 5000m in Westwood and ninth over the same distance in Oslo. But, as he often does at championships, Cheptegei produced his best when it matters.
- Earlier in the season, the Ethiopian Trials in Nerja produced the deepest race of the season. Yomif Kejelcha won in a world-leading 26:31.01 from Berihu Aregawi, who set a PB of 26:31.13. Four men finished inside 26:40 – including 17-year-old Biniam Mehary, who set a world U20 record of 26:37.93 – and six men bettered 26:50.
Yomif Kejelcha wins the 10,000m in Nerja (© Sportmedia)
- The other high-quality race of the season came at the Prefontaine Classic, which doubled as the Kenyan trials. Daniel Mateiko edged out Nicholas Kipkorir by 0.13 for the win in 26:50.81.
- Kejelcha, Barega and Aregawi dictated the early pace in the Olympic final, but Cheptegei waited until the final 600 metres to make his move. He crossed the line in 26:43.14, breaking the 16-year Olympic record set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2008. In fact, the top 13 finishers crossed the line inside 27 minutes and well inside the previous Olympic record of 27:01.17.
- Aregawi, who was fourth at the previous Olympics and last year’s World Championships, finally won his first global track medal by taking silver. USA’s Grant Fisher earned bronze before going on to add another in the 5000m.
- There were a record 34 sub-27-minute performances achieved by 24 men this year.
Women’s 10,000m
Season top list
| 28:54.14 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 3:50.30 | Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 3:50.83 | Jessica Hull (AUS) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 3:52.61 | Georgia Bell (GBR) | Eugene | 25 May |
| 3:52.75 | Diribe Welteji (ETH) | Nerja | 14 June |
World Athletics rankings
| 1 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | 1423 |
| 2 | Nadia Battocletti (ITA) | 1384 |
| 3 | Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi (KEN) | 1345 |
| 4 | Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) | 1340 |
| 5 | Lilian Kasait Rengeruk (KEN) | 1336 |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Beatrice Chebet (KEN) | 30:43.25 |
| 🥈 | Nadia Battocletti (ITA) | 30:43.35 NR |
| 🥉 | Sifan Hassan (NED) | 30:44.12 SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Beatrice Chebet (KEN) 30:43.25
European Championships: Nadia Battocletti (ITA) 30:51.32
African Championships: Gladys Kwamboka (KEN) 36:53.59
Season snapshot
- Beatrice Chebet’s impeccable 10,000m season began in Eugene when she became the first woman to cover 25 laps of the track within 29 minutes. In what was just her third 10,000m race to date, the Kenyan clocked 28:54.14 to obliterate Letesenbet Gidey’s previous world record of 29:01.03.
Beatrice Chebet sets a world 10,000m record in Eugene (© Getty Images)
- The race had been billed as a world record attempt – not necessarily for Chebet, but for Gudaf Tsegay. The Ethiopian finished a distant second in 29:05.92 – still the third-fastest performance in history – while Lilian Kasait Rengeruk (29:26.89) and Margaret Kipkemboi (29:27.59) followed further behind, moving to sixth and seventh on the world all-time list.
- Eugene remained the best race of the season in terms of times and depth, while the Ethiopian Trial race in Nerja – won by Fotyen Tesfay in 29:47.71 – featured three sub-30-minute performances.
- Four days after winning the 5000m, Chebet added another Olympic gold to her collection by winning the 10,000m in Paris in 30:43.25 and becoming the first Kenyan winner of the title. European champion Nadia Battocletti took silver in an Italian record of 30:43.35, and defending champion Sifan Hassan claimed bronze. Chebet now joins Hassan and Tirunesh Dibaba as just the third woman in history to win the 5000m/10,000m double at the Olympic Games.
- There were a record eight sub-30-minute performances this year achieved by seven women.
Michelle Katami for World Athletics
